A COUNTY Durham community group has teamed up with a local sports venue to make life-saving equipment available to the public.

A new publicly accessible defibrillator unit has been installed at Darlington Mowden Park Rugby Club stadium thanks to support from Darlington Round Table and the rugby club, which each donated £450 towards the cost, along with heart charity, Missed a Beat.

Darlington Round Table member, Paul Swift, said: “We became aware of the vital need for more defibrillators in Darlington thanks to Ben Simpson, whose dad is a former member of Darlington Round Table.

“Ben suffered a cardiac arrest while playing football earlier this year. Fortunately, he recovered thanks to the quick action of fellow players and officials, but if there hadn’t been a defibrillator on-hand it could have been a different story.

“He put us in contact with Mark Preston at Missed a Beat, which has placed more than 450 new defibrillators all over our area, and we were proud to help fund another in an area that needed it.”

Matthew Auger, from Mowden Park Rugby Club, added: “As a community centre with so many people coming through, it’s so important to have this vital piece of equipment in case it’s ever needed.”

Mark Preston founded Missed a Beat to install as many emergency defibrillators around the region as he can, after losing his best friend to a sudden heart-attack.

He said: “The Arena is the perfect place for a new defibrillator in Darlington. Not only does it have a lot of footfall, but it’s ideally placed next to the new housing development, and it’s a community venue, so the equipment will be accessible to everyone.

“It’s been great to work with Round Table and the rugby club. I know a lot of the coaches have fundraised towards the cost, which is great.

“Before we installed this, the nearest unit was nearly a mile away, which means you’d be dead if you needed it here. But now Darlington’s a little bit safer.”

Members of the public can find the new defibrillator in a highly visible yellow box, mounted on the west exterior wall of The Darlington Arena, directly ahead when entering the car park.